City Council to inspect vehicles

New month, new rules. Come Monday, November first, a quick trip in or out of Belize City might also mean a quick stop at a local mechanic or auto parts store. In an attempt to curb city accidents, the Belize City Council will be doing daily car checks at the bridges outside Belize City, to make sure your vehicle is safe for the road. Councilor responsible for traffic, Danny Madrid, says the high number of accidents is unacceptable.

Danny Madrid, Councilor responsible for traffic

“We’re doing this on the northern road and we’re doing this on the western road. Vehicles that are coming into Belize City will be checked for lights, indicators, brake lights, park lights especially cause we have a lot of accidents that happen at night. If a vehicle is coming in, and it doesn’t have what is required, we will not issue a ticket; we will give you a warning. You will come into the city, you will get your vehicles fixed, and then you may leave. If you are leaving the city, and you have problems with your vehicle, you will not be allowed to leave the city with that vehicle. You will be turned back and you must repair your vehicle.”

Q: “How do you go about enforcing something like this?”

Danny Madrid

“We’re using our special constables, we’re using our traffic officers and we’re using the help of police to enforce it. Again I would like to say that this enforcement is not, in no way, about revenue that we want for the city but it’s about safety for the public.

We are doing our part by starting this campaign and we’re asking the public for them to do their part. Don’t wait for us to stop and turn you back. If you know your vehicle is not working, just turn back, go to the shop and get it fixed. It may be your own life that you may be saving.”

Vehicles will also be inspected for insurance, licenses and driver permits. Checkpoints will be in place everyday from seven thirty to eight thirty in the morning, and from four to six in the evening at the Burdon Canal Bridge and the Haulover Bridge. Vehicle owners will be given up to seven days to remedy any problems. Madrid says the City Council is also looking into the problem of illegal parking on the Northern Highway.

Viewers please note: This Internet newscast is a verbatim transcript of our evening television newscast. Where speakers use Kriol, we attempt to faithfully reproduce the quotes using a standard spelling system.